Guide to Choosing the Right CRM for Your Business

It is essential for every business to check how its leads are progressing and help customers who get stuck in the sales funnel.

Instead of manually keeping tabs on all your users, it would be best if you implemented Customer Relationship Management software to help you out. If you want to unlock the growth potential of your business, you should consider using a CRM system. However, plenty of software tools are available, and finding the best solutions isn't always easy.

To help you out, we have created this guide to choosing the right CRM for your business.

1. What is a CRM?
2. What should I consider when choosing a CRM?
3. Why is choosing the right CRM Important?

What is a CRM?

CRM stands for Customer Relationship Management, a complex software suite that allows you to track and manage all customer interactions. You can use a CRM platform to connect your internal departments, most importantly marketing, sales, and customer services. Through the use of CRM, these departments will be able to share information, compare relevant metrics and KPIs and generate data reports.

We have you covered if you want an affordable CRM solution since Vested has a HubSpot partnership. You can register through us to gain access to free CRM and setup. However, if you have specific business needs, you can see what else is out there.

Here is What You Need to Consider When Choosing the Right CRM for Your Business:

CRM is a versatile digital tool with many uses and can benefit your business in many ways. Before deciding on which CRM you want, you should take a moment to plan out your business goals carefully. A good idea would be to consider why you want to implement CRM in the first place. Is there any part of your customer management that is struggling or needs improvement?

Here is what CRM can achieve:

• Identify and prioritize leads. It might sound ruthless, but not all leads are equally crucial for your business. Identifying high-priority leads will let your employees focus their efforts on nurturing the leads closest to a purchase or that yield the highest benefit.
• Customize the customer experience. CRM can help you personalize your inbound marketing to create a unique experience for your customers. Create and promote content that will interest and engage customers.
• Track customer behavior. Having a good idea of how customers are currently interacting with your company is essential. Tracking their behavior will give you an insight into their needs and help you progress them through the sales funnel. If you collect enough data on your customers, you will also be able to predict future behavior, which can help you design new products and effective marketing campaigns.
• Reduce operating costs. A comprehensive CRM system can reduce business costs by offering cheaper customer support, and the reduced expense per customer should be cost-effective to justify the purchase of the CRM platform. CRM can also increase the productivity of your staff, letting them spend more time directly interacting with customers.

Get Feedback From Employees

As a business owner, you shouldn't be choosing the right CRM for your business without the input of your sales and marketing departments. Those departments are the ones that interact with customers the most, and their insight could be valuable. Ask your sales and marketing reps what features they think are lacking from your current system.

Listen to Your Customers

You can also turn to your customers for feedback. Ask them about potential problems during their purchases. Take a look at previous customer complaints and how you resolved those issues. Those problems can give you valuable information about choke points in your sales funnel.

You can also use customer feedback to boost your website's SEO and organic traffic. Certain features go hand in hand; if you improve your website design and optimization, user satisfaction and engagement will also increase. By listening to your customers, you will also be able to boost lead generation.

Compile a List of Features

Besides getting feedback from your employees and customers, you should also consider the technical aspects of the CRM software you are looking for. For example, if you expect your business to expand, it is best to pick an agile software solution that will leave room for future growth. Think about how many accounts you will need since different CRM platforms can support a varied number of users based on the package you purchase.

Also, consider how many customers you will need to track and if you need cloud storage and remote access features. Planning out your list of necessary features will help you narrow your selection and speed up choosing the right CRM for your business. It would be a shame to go through the implementation and employee training for a CRM system only to realize that it is missing some key features that you require.

Plan the Implementation

You must realize that whenever you implement a new software platform for your business, there will be a transitioning period. Deployment could take some time, and you might even need a professional to oversee deployment. If you plan to keep things in-house, we suggest you include marketing and sales personnel on the deployment team. Having multiple departments involved will speed up the implementation and improve employee onboarding.

Ensure Everyone is On Board for the CRM

Rolling out a new platform and training employees to use it rarely goes without hiccups. Unfortunately, when it comes to something like CRM, you'll need to have everyone onboard to ensure the software is effective. People naturally resist change, so you might want to talk to employees before you reach the training stage. Discuss new features and how they will improve daily workflow operations.

You should also prepare your customers if there will be any changes on the client side of things. Use inbound marketing to design a content-driven campaign to stir up user interest for the changes you are making.

Embracing New Trends in CRM Technology

With rapid technological advances, CRM platforms now offer cutting-edge features that can significantly enhance your customer relationship strategy. When choosing a CRM, it’s essential to consider these emerging trends to ensure that your investment will keep pace with evolving customer needs and expectations. Here are some modern CRM capabilities that can transform your business operations:

1. AI-Powered Automation and Insights

Artificial intelligence (AI) revolutionizes CRM by enabling predictive analytics, customer segmentation, and automation. AI-driven insights help you forecast customer behavior, personalize interactions, and more accurately focus on high-priority leads. Automation tools now handle repetitive tasks like data entry and email follow-ups, freeing up your team to focus on building meaningful connections with customers. When choosing a CRM, look for platforms integrating AI for analytics, lead scoring, and automation.

2. Enhanced Mobile Accessibility

With remote work becoming a norm, mobile-friendly CRM solutions are essential for teams that operate on the go. A CRM with robust mobile functionality allows employees to access customer data, update notes, and manage tasks from any device, anywhere. This flexibility can increase productivity and responsiveness, translating into better customer service. Look for CRMs that offer dedicated mobile apps with a seamless user experience.

3. Omnichannel Support for Customer Interaction

Today’s customers expect to communicate with businesses across multiple channels, including email, social media, live chat, and messaging apps. An effective CRM should support an omnichannel approach, allowing you to manage all customer interactions from a single platform. That ensures consistency in customer experience and helps your team track conversations across channels. As you evaluate CRM options, consider how well they integrate with various communication tools.

4. Data Security and Privacy Compliance

As businesses collect vast customer data, CRM platforms must prioritize security and compliance. With regulations like GDPR and CCPA, ensuring your chosen CRM complies with industry standards to protect sensitive customer information is vital. When selecting a CRM, consider data encryption, user authentication, and compliance features that safeguard customer privacy and keep you compliant with relevant laws.

5. Integration with Other Business Tools

Your CRM doesn’t work in isolation; it must integrate smoothly with other software solutions in your ecosystem. Whether it’s email marketing tools, ERP systems, or e-commerce platforms, the ability to connect your CRM with other tools will streamline data flow across your organization. Integration capabilities are especially critical if you’re looking to build a cohesive, data-driven approach across departments like marketing, sales, and customer service.

Why is Choosing the Right CRM Important? 

The Bottom Line: Company Growth

Choosing the right CRM for your business can help you achieve the growth of your company. Numerous digital tools are available, and finding the right one to suit your business model is no easy task.

It could take a lot of time from the moment you start research until you finish with implementation, so arm yourself with patience and don't rush things.

We are sure you'll be able to find the right software for your business that will satisfy both employees and customers.

Interested in Learning More? 

As a HubSpot Diamond Level Solutions Partner, Vested has helped businesses of all shapes and sizes to achieve their goals and convert more leads into customers.

The best part is that there are no limits or boundaries on what type of industry can benefit from an effective CRM. Which industry do you operate within? Let us know, we would love to help your business grow!

Related Articles

Top 3 Approaches to Successfully Leverage Your HubSpot CRM - Segment, contextualize, and personalize are the three most paths to CRM success. But what do these terms practically mean? Learn more by reading our blog!

HubSpot vs Salesforce - HubSpot and Salesforce are two CRM (Customer Relationship Management) platforms, and choosing which is right for you is key to maximizing your CRM.

How To Effectively Leverage Relationships In Business - Instead of trying to convince strangers that you're the best, sometimes it is better to leverage existing relationships for the best business outcomes.

How to Improve SEO by Using CRM Software - Here is everything you need to know about how to improve SEO by using CRM software. Help your business today by using this fantastic software.

About Vested Marketing

As a certified HubSpot Partner Agency, we not only understand the benefits of using the inbound marketing platform to increase traffic and engagement, improve SEO, generate leads, design effective websites and boost sales, we know how to make it happen.

We are inbound marketing experts, SEO gurus and top-notch website developers.

Our team of Engineers Turned Marketers can help get you noticed - for a more innovative and effective way to reach customers, or provide a more seamless way for companies to find your services. Inbound Marketing has no limit to industry, serving from Crypto & NFT, mining, oil and gas, technology & automation, engineering, technology, construction, healthcare, specialty pharmacy, to industrial & manufacturing.